Eden stared up at the ceiling of her room as she laid on her back. Nothing but concrete everywhere she looked. The light hummed quietly, the sound of electricity the only thing that could break through the painful silence.

     It had been days since anyone had visited her. After the incident with Jacob she had been locked away, only offered food and water occasionally. Hours melted into days, which could have turned into weeks for all she knew.

     She didn't know why the Seeds had decided to leave her alone, maybe it had something to do with what happened to Jacob. Maybe he was freaked out by something or maybe they decided she was a lost cause. Eden didn't know why but it almost hurt to see them turn their backs on her, but at least now she could sit in silence without more mindfuckery.

     Whatever the reason, Eden didn't really care, or maybe she chose not too. Despite all that happened she realized that she thought of Jacob as a sort of ally in here. Now he had abandoned her too. What a shit deal.

     Eden sat up slowly, her head pounding from the lack of nutrients/low iron levels in her blood. Her body hadn't healed properly but she didn't feel her bumps and bruises as bad anymore. She leaned against the wall and brushed her hair out of her face. Her hair. She never let it get this long, not since she was a kid.

     Eden remembered a time when she was young, her mom would come home drunk and tweaked out of her mind on whatever drugs she could get her hands on and would take it out on her. Sometimes Eden tried to hide, but her mom always found her and pulled her out by her hair. After that happened Eden started cutting her own hair short with her rusty kitchen shears. It always looked terrible but if she could manage to get it short enough then her mom couldn't grab it and that was a plus for her tender head.

     Now as an adult she liked to keep it around her shoulders, just long enough to put into a pony tail, but not so long as to have to hassle with it. Now it was past her shoulders around her armpits and it was weirding her out.

     She wanted to cut it but of course the Seeds took away all of the sharp objects in the room so it would be impossible. Unless she went outside her room.

     There's a thought... If Eden went outside her room maybe she could find something to cut her hair with, and maybe she could find something else. Maybe a gun, or maybe a way out of the bunker.

     But even if she could get out of the bunker, would there be anything to go back to? What would she find out there? She couldn't have been in the bunker longer than a month, two months max. Everything would still be in chaos. Maybe it would always be that way, maybe there will never be anything to go back too.

     Eden shook the thought away. She didn't plan on living long enough to see the outside world again. It was just a stupid fantasy really. But wouldn't it be so nice to take one last breath of the clean Montana air?

     She imagined getting to stand at the top of one of the mountain peaks around Hope County one last time before the sun sets. The sound of birds singing, the wind in the trees, water splashing against the rocks in the bed of the creek, it would be perfect.

     If only she wasn't dying in this prison.

     Eden looked around her dreadful room. Slowly, she climbed to her feet and walked to her door. She reached out a hand to grab the door handle and realized how badly it's shaking. Nerves, or maybe the lack of food.

     Eden took in a deep breath and grabbed the handle. Before she twisted the door open she froze, her heart beating out of her chest, all she can hear is the sound of her heart pounding 'bump bump, bump bump'.

     She didn't know what she's doing. What was her plan? What did she want to do? Honestly she didn't have a clue, but some of her greatest (or worst) plans happened when she didn't know what she was doing.

     She opened her door and looked outside. When she sees that there isn't anyone outside, she carefully opens the door enough for her to squeeze through and walks down the hall. She heard someone snoring in one of the rooms next to hers, probably John by the sound of it.

     Eden made her way down the hallway, she didn't know what she's looking for but decides to start at the kitchen so that's where she goes.

     She turned the corner and looked into the dining room/kitchen. It's dark but she'd be damned if she turned on the light so she snuck in quietly as possible. A gentle light from the hallway illuminated part of the kitchen but the rest is in the dark so Eden carefully checked the counters for a pair of scissors but then.

     Something brushed her hand. In a panic she spins around and feels a hand reach around her shoulders and another hand clasp over her mouth. With the velocity she had gained, Eden gets backed into the refrigerator easily by the hands.

     She tried to fight back but the hands held her steady. She looked up at whoever had her pinned and studied their silhouette.

     It was Jacob.

"What are you doing?" Jacob asked her in a hushed voice. He let go of her and took a step back.

Eden took a second to collect herself and catch her breath. "You scared the shit out of me." She admitted and stepped away from Jacob.

"I didn't want you to wake up the whole bunker." Jacob said and glanced around the dark kitchen. "So what are you doing?" He asked again. Eden realizesd that she never had a very good plan, and saying she decided to come out of her quarantine for a pair of scissors seemed stupid.

"I'm...it doesn't matter. I just needed a change of scenery." Eden said and moved to walk past Jacob and out the kitchen.

Jacob grabbed her wrist to stop her. Eden turns around and sees him, his standard, blank expression staring back at her. "What are you doing?" She asks him and pulled her wrist out of his grasp, he lets her go.

"I'm sorry I haven't seen you for the past few days...but Joseph has his reasons." Jacob apologized but Eden doesn't understand him.

"Why are you apologizing? You're the one who brought me here in the first place." Eden remarked quietly. A tense silence settled between her and Jacob.

Eden turned around and walked to the doorway.

"It doesn't have to be like this you know." Jacob's voice stopped her again. "If you actually listen to Joseph then you'll realize he isn't as crazy as everyone makes him seem. You don't have to suffer anymore." He wasn't pleading with her, he sounds more like a man making a business offer than anything.

Eden turned around just enough for Jacob to see half of her face and leveled with him. "Jacob, I have made countless mistakes in my life, but not fucking dying before getting trapped here was by far my worst. There is no light at the end of this tunnel, it's just one dark road in an infinite night. You can't help me live, so just let me die in peace."

Silence hung in the air for one beat, two beats, then Eden walked into the hallway, leaving Jacob in the dark kitchen alone.

Eden stayed in her room after that conversation for another two days. She drank some of the water and ate some of the food offered to her, but she didn't speak to anyone.

As she finished the room temperature can of soup Eden remembered her conversation with Jacob. Maybe they were finally going to be leaving her alone now.

     But something Jacob said was stuck in her head. He isn't as crazy as everyone makes him seem. Surely someone as calculative as Jacob wouldn't be fooled by that psycho. Or maybe Jacob's that psycho too.

     Either way, Eden was done playing their games. She didn't know how to fight back, she wasn't in any physical condition to do so, but she was going to find a way not to give in.

     "Jacob, do you understand why we must save Eden?"

     "No I don't."

     "It is because that is God's will. He has a plan for her just as he has a plan for all of us." Joseph set down the Book of Joseph at the foot of a bed.

     Jacob sat on the same bed leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. The room was fairly dim, but Joseph could see that Jacob was somewhere far away in his mind.

     "She reminds me of you, you know." Joseph spoke gently as he sat down next to his brother. "When me and John finally found you all those years ago, you were so filled with that poison..."

     "Rage?" Jacob asked but Joseph shook his head.

     "Fear." He said and looked at his older brother. "You were consumed by it. You lived in fear of what was to come, and you feared the past you were so desperately trying to run away from. I do not know Eden's history, but I believe she is also running from her past and the wreckage she caused."

     "She's tired of running, that's why she won't give in." Jacob explained but Joseph shook his head yet again.

     "You were tired of running too, Jacob. You were tired and ready to give up but I found you, and I gave you a purpose again. You have an emotional connection to this woman, that is something I only dreamed of for you. Find a way to pull her out of this war she is waging with herself. Only then can she be saved." As Joseph spoke Jacob nodded. He knew that Joseph was right, they were very similar, but Eden was different from him. He had been trying to get some fight back in her but to no avail.

     He had to find a way to get her snapped out of it soon, she didn't have much time left.

The door to Eden's room opened. Eden looked to see who was walking in, she was surprised to see Faith. She practically floated into the room as she hummed a song lightly. She had obviously changed out of her dress, but even in sweatpants and a light shirt she still had a sickeningly sweet air about her.

Faith gently closed the door behind her and turned to face Eden. A peaceful smile graced her face. "Hello Eden." She spoke serenely, but hearing the word Eden come out of Faith's mouth was...disturbing.

Eden stayed quiet and Faith walked over to her. She stopped only a couple of feet away from her and sat down on the floor. "I've come to talk to you." She said and peered straight into Eden's eyes. The only time she broke eye contact was when she would blink.

"What do you have to say?" Eden asked her, her voice was surprisingly quiet in Faith's presence.

Faith smiled as if Eden had just made a joke. "Well, I was hoping you would start!" She explained and waited yet again.

Eden finally looked away from Faith's stare to glance around the room. She could smell the sickening sweetness of the Bliss, it made her dizzy. "I...I don't-"

"Want to talk?" Faith asked as if she read her mind. Eden looked back at Faith and Faith nodded. She reached out her hand for Eden to take but Eden didn't accept it. "I'm not here to hurt you, Eden. I just want to see how you're doing."

Faith spoke like a counselor, it reminded Eden of her days in high school. Because of all her absences and poor grades she had to speak to counselors often. They never did anything, probably because Eden never told them the truth. But that didn't matter now.

Faith could see Eden's confusion and moved closer to her. She gently grabbed Eden's hand and cupped it in her own. "The things you've been through...they must be weighing on you. Especially here where you have no one to talk to, no one to help you. It must feel awful."

Eden's hand felt cold in Faith's warm embrace. She didn't understand what was going on, after everything she's done, she wants to know how Eden was feeling? This must just be some plot Joseph had, or maybe John?

"Eden, it's alright for you to be honest with me. I can tell that you're hurting, it's nothing to be ashamed of." Faith spoke with such beauty and grace, it was hard for Eden to maintain a tough exterior.

     Faith seemingly understood this. She glanced at Eden's hair and reached out to touch it. "How about I cut your hair for you? It's gotten long lately and I know that you usually keep it shorter." She continued holding Eden's hand, almost like a tether.

     Eden didn't really understand why Faith was talking to her like they were friends. It was more creepy than anything, but the way Faith spoke it was almost like she actually cared.

     "Ok."

     Small sections of hair fell lightly through the air onto the concrete floor. Scissors gently snipped away as Eden stared into a mirror.

     Faith hummed a hymn quietly as she ran her fingers through Eden's hair. She trimmed off the damaged ends, leaving behind the softer, healthier hair. She didn't do anything fancy, just trimmed it to be right below Eden's shoulders in a straight line, but seeing herself with properly cut hair...

     Eden's mother always cut her hair, and then Eden did when she left home, so her hair never had a very good look to it. It was always a little too jagged or slanted to one end, but she didn't have the money to go to a salon. She never really cared anyway.

     Cutting her hair was a nuisance, it took time and precision, both things her mom was never very good with. More often than not, Eden would go to school with one half of her hair an inch shorter than the other. The kids didn't like that very much, they didn't like the way she smelled like cigarettes either or had dirty clothes.

     For some reason, a tear rolled down Eden's cheek as she watched Faith run her fingers through her hair so gently. Faith obviously noticed, but chose not to say anything. Instead she smiled and looked into the mirror with Eden. She placed her hands on Eden's shoulders and studied Eden's face.

     "Do you like it?" She asked as Eden turned her head to see more of her hair. "I think it makes you look nice. Sometimes a hair cut has a way of changing a person, doesn't it? Cutting away the dead hair...it almost has a freeing feeling to it." Faith continued on and turned away from Eden. She set down the scissors and wiped her hands on a towel.

     Eden didn't say a word as she looked at herself. The hair didn't take away from her pale, unhealthy skin, or her overly pronounced features because of her lack of nourishment. But it did look nice.

"Why are you doing this?" Eden asked her.

     Faith walked around the chair Eden was sitting in a knelt down in front of her. She looked Eden straight in the eye as if she was gauging her expression. All of the Seeds had a way of staring straight through Eden, and she didn't like that.

"When The Father found me, I was lost. Broken. Afraid. He took me in and showed me the light, he helped me find my purpose. Do you know what one of the first things he did was?" Faith asked her and Eden shook her head ever so slightly.

Faith smiled. "He gave me a haircut." She spoke as if she was remembering one of the happiest times of her life. "He cut away all of my sins, he released me from my past. And I emerged, happy." She told Eden and reached up to touch a piece of Eden's hair.

Faith pulled her hand back and looked into Eden's eyes again. "Don't you see? I'm helping you take the first steps towards your freedom."

Eden looked down at her hands. "You don't get it." She said under her breath. This piqued Faith's interest.

"What do you mean?" Faith asked and Eden looked back at her.

"Even if we survive here, do you really think there will be a world to go back to? This isn't a doorway to heaven, it's a sinking ship." Eden told her and Faith frowned.

She edged closer to Eden and grabbed her hand again. "I know it's hard to see now, but we will emerge. We will make it to our garden, and we will be free. You just have to have faith." Faith spoke gently, but Eden could hear an edge in her voice. It wasn't anger, it may have been...fear?

Faith let go of Eden's hand and stood up. "I trust the Father's words, and you will learn too as well." The way Faith said that last sentence, it felt less like a happy promise and more of a threat.

     Hello everyone! I'm not dead it's a miracle! I know it's been a while now, but I've recently been getting more motivation to continue with this story. Your guys' support means the world to me, and I really hope you enjoyed this chapter.